


Twin Hearts of Kyber

by JadeLotus (Lotusflower85)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Skywalker Family Feels, Skywalker Twins, and fanwank a few pt/ot logic holes, in which I belabor the metaphor, skytwins y'all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-03-27 20:05:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13888176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lotusflower85/pseuds/JadeLotus
Summary: Following the Battle of Scarif, Leia is able to evade the Empire and visits Obi-Wan on Tatooine to make her father's request in person.





	1. Leia Organa

She looked quite out of place in his small hut.  The hem of her white gown had been stained by the red earth just in the short distance she must have walked from her spaceship to his home, although she seemed to pay it no mind.  A princess she may be, but her dark eyes betrayed a rebel who was not afraid to get her hands (or clothing) dirty. Still, her gaze darted around the room and although her surprise was well concealed, Obi-Wan did not miss it.  

Of course she must have assumed that hiding on a planet such as Tatooine necessitated a simple existence, but Leia was no doubt used to the gilded halls of her palace, the sleekness of the Senate, and the hum and drive of rebel bases.  Clearly, she had not expected the great General Kenobi, hero of many of the tales her father must have told at her childhood bedside, to be living in a desert hut without even the most basic commodities.

But ever the politician, she kept to the matter at hand.

“General Kenobi, I am Leia Organa,” she introduced herself.  “Years ago you served with my father in the Clone Wars-”

Obi-Wan held up a hand.  “My dear, before you continue what I’m sure is a very pretty speech, you must allow me the opportunity to offer you a cup of tea.”

There was a flash of anger behind her eyes although her expression did not change.  He had no doubt she was practiced in hiding her true emotions, even if she could not completely erase them.   

“General,” she said, her voice even but with sharp edge.  “The matter is quite urgent, I believe we can dispense with etiquette.”

Her accent and language was clearly affected, intended to emulate the crispness of the Imperial Court - perhaps to impress him, perhaps because it had become the default in her role as princess and senator.  After years of hearing nothing but the harsh twang of various ‘Rim dialects, the melodic sound Leia’s voice was like a cool dip in a still mountain lake.

“If that is so, please call me Obi-Wan,” he told her.  “I have not been a General for some twenty years, and I did not like the title even then.” He moved towards a small table where a pot of tea had been brewing since he’d sensed her arrival on the planet.  

“You see,” he added, pouring two cups.  “The tea is already made, so we are losing no time by being civilised.”  He gestured for her to take a seat and she did so despite her obvious reluctance.

“General Kenobi...oh, yes please,” she nodded when he asked if she liked milk and sugar.  “General Kenobi,” she tried again, but appeared to have lost her train of thought. Obi-Wan felt a stab of pity, for while she had the poise and presence of her rank, he was reminded that she was only nineteen still, and perhaps unprepared for the fullness of the challenges that awaited her.  He remained silent as she took a few moments to stir her tea and then take a sip, and by the time the cup had returned to its saucer her conviction had returned.

“Obi-Wan,” she began.  “I have just come from the Imperial Base on Scarif, where the Rebellion has won a great victory.  But it was not without great cost, and I cannot and will not dishonour those lives lost by adhering to protocol and perhaps compromising the best chance we have of dealing the Empire a further blow....why are you smiling, sir?”

“You simply remind me of someone, that is all.” Obi-Wan leaned forward in his chair, letting his smile drop since he did not wish Leia to believe he was not taking her seriously.  “Please, continue.”

“The Empire has built a weapon,” Leia spoke slightly faster, her natural accent starting to bleed through.  “It destroyed the Holy City on Jedha from orbit only a few days ago, and that is only a taste of its destructive power.  A team of rebels was able to steal schematics to this so-called Death Star and get them to me - unfortunately my ship was the only one to survive the battle and even we did not come out unscathed.”

But Obi-Wan had barely heard her.  “The Holy City is gone - the Temple of the Kyber?” he asked, that old wound in his heart reopening.  He had long insulated himself from news of the Empire’s destructive reign, other than the check on Leia every now and then. He’d had to, to prevent himself from being tempted to abandon his mission to watch over Luke, but the news of Jedha’s destruction felt like an attack on the very core of his being.

“I suppose I should only be surprised that it took the Empire this long,” he added bitterly.  “They have hunted down and destroyed the Jedi, of course they must also obliterate our history.”

“General, I’m speaking of a weapon that has the power to obliterate any planet the Emperor chooses!” Leia rose to her feet, incensed, the anger which had been so carefully concealed before now on display.  “Thousands were killed on Jedha and Scarif, but millions more are in danger - the destruction of Temples and Jedi history is regrettable, but nothing compared to the lives that have been lost!”

“You are quite right,” Obi-Wan said calmly, although he was slightly unnerved.  Before, Leia’s resemblance to her mother had made him smile, now her resemblance to her father had made his heart ache.  “Please sit down.”

“No,” she said with a resolute shake of her head.  “I have been sent by my father to bring you back to the fight, so you are coming with me, now, before any more time is lost.”

“If you have the plans to this weapon, what use could the Rebellion have for an old man?”

“I was on my way to retrieve you when I was called to the battle,” Leia explained, looking down on him with something like disdain.  “My father believed that, as his friend, you would come if he asked and not require explanation. Perhaps he expected too much from a man who has valued his own safety over his duty to fight the Empire, a Jedi who has allowed a Sith like Darth Vader to rampage through the galaxy unchecked and unchallenged.”

Obi-Wan took a sip of his tea, allowing Leia’s tirade to wash off him like water from a duck’s back.  He felt her glare, fierce and with all the righteous indignation of youth as he placed his cup delicately back in its saucer.  

But when he looked up, it was with a smile.  “Very well, you have convinced me.”

Leia only allowed her surprise to show for a single moment, before that as well as her anger fell away to be replaced by a determined relief.   

“I cannot stress the urgency of this matter, we must leave immediately,” she said, already striding towards the door.  “We have managed to evade Imperial forces thus far, but I have no doubt they are hunting us.”

“It’s not easy to outrun an Imperial ship.”  Obi-Wan observed as he rose to his feet.

“The _Tantive IV_ is a blockade runner.  Please, we must hurry,” Leia urged him.  “Collect any belongings you wish to bring with you, but only if they are of great importance.”

“I only require two things.”  Obi-Wan moved swiftly to the chest that held Anakin’s lightsaber, removed it and clipped it to his belt.  “I have your word I can bring both?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Good, because the other is on the far side of the Dune Sea.”

 

* * *

 

Leia was not pleased.  

Her audience with General Kenobi had not gone to plan; the speech she had spent most of the voyage refining had been immediately derailed, and after swearing to herself that she would not lose her temper under any circumstances, she had done exactly that.  On the other hand, the General had not been anything like she had expected from the stories her father had told her - the Kenobi who had killed a Sith Lord while still a padawan, faked his own death, foiled assassination plots, and survived the Jedi Purge when few others had.

Even worse, when they’d returned to her ship to make a speedy departure for Alderaan, Captain Antilles informed her they’d blown out one of the engines in the escape from the Empire which now needed to be repaired.  This prevented them from using the ship to soar across the desert in a matter of moments, and they’d been forced to take Leia’s speeder from the hold of the ship and leave her crew to their repairs while they went to collect whatever Kenobi was so adamant they needed to take with them.   

“Is it a weapon?” Leia asked as they sped across the stark landscape, the heat beating down on them and red dust collecting on the viewscreen.  She could feel herself sweating in a most undignified manner - her face no doubt a pink sheen, chest, arms, and legs clammy under her white gown which had been made for the climate-controlled Senate chamber and not a place hotter than the seventh Corellian hell.  If only she’d changed into the fatigues she much prefered, but the panic following their escape from Scarif and the Star Destroyer that had pursued them, plus her desire to make a good impression on the old Jedi had left her in her in a gown thoroughly unsuitable to the planet she found herself traversing.  

“A weapon?” Kenobi repeated back to her - he at least didn’t seem affected by the heat, but then again he’d had twenty years to acclimatise.  “Yes I suppose, from a certain point of view.”

“It must be important,” Leia said, unable to keep her sharpness from her voice.  “If you keep it hidden so far from your home.”

Obi-Wan smiled, although he clearly had not missed her jibe.  “It has better caretakers than I.”

“Or perhaps it is dangerous.” Leia’s palms were damp, and she shifted her grip on the steerer.  “I hope I’m not putting my crew at risk by bringing it aboard.”

“All weapons are dangerous, my dear.” Obi-Wan appeared to be studying her, she could almost feel the intensity of his gaze.  “But your crew are in no more peril than what they face already.”

She could not refute the point - although they had narrowly escaped the Empire’s clutches it was likely that the _Tantive_ had been recognised and operatives were already headed back to Alderaan hoping to intercept them on their return.  She would need to contact her father to make sure it was safe.

“These plans,” Kenobi spoke up.  “How did you come by them?”

Keeping her eyes on the desert ahead, Leia explained briefly about the events leading up to the Battle of Scarif - but she was fairly scant on details herself.  

“The plans were beamed to Raddus’ cruiser but they were intercepted by a Star Destroyer and boarded,” she summarised.  “We were docked with them after sustaining fire during the battle, and the only ship with a chance of getting away.” A shiver went through her despite the heat at the memory of the terror which gripped every soul on the _Tantive_ , able to hear the screams echo through the comm as the plans were passed from hand to hand.  Her heart had turned to ice, it was almost as if she had been able to _feel_ Darth Vader cutting his way through swathes of rebels with his blood-red blade, while they could do nothing but wait.

“We made three hyperspace jumps before we got here,” Leia continued.  “Blowing out an engine was worth it if it threw the Empire off our tails.  Still,” she glanced over. “We must leave as soon as we are able.”

But Obi-Wan was stroking his beard lightly, looking out at the horizon.  “I travelled to Jedha once with my apprentice. Did you father tell you stories of him too?”

“Anakin Skywalker?” Leia shrugged.  “It would be difficult to separate his story from yours, but my father didn’t know him as well.”  She had come to understand that he had admired Kenobi much more for his steadfast command than Skywalker for his brash heroics, and therefore those were the stories he preferred to tell.  Secretly though, whenever her father’s voice had been tinged with slight disapproval at Skywalker’s antics, Leia found herself thinking she would acted the same way. Better to take a chance and fail than live with the regret of what could have been.

“They say he died defending the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.” Leia gave a sidelong glance at Kenobi - wanting to say more, that Skywalker had stood and fought, and Kenobi had run and hidden, but seeing the guilt on his face and knew she didn’t need to.  

“Yes,” Kenobi said, and he seemed far away.  “He was a hero.”

“It’s the Imperial Palace now,” she said, not to wound him further, but prepare him for the reality of the galaxy he’d ignored for so long.

“Perhaps someday the Jedi will reclaim it.” Kenobi was smiling again.  “Even now there are those out there strong in the Force, they simply do not know it - perhaps even within your Rebellion.”

“And how will you find them?” Leia asked.  “If they don’t even know themselves?”

His smile deepened, and he looked back out at the horizon, squinting lightly into the suns.

“Do you know what they mined on Jedha,” he said after a short silence.  “Why they called it the Holy City? Kyber crystals - attuned to the Force, used to power a Jedi’s lightsaber.  The Guardians would say that the strongest stars have hearts of kyber.”

“It’s a pretty saying,” she said mildly, unsure if Obi-Wan was making conversation or working towards a point.  Leia rather felt she was in lessons again; as a child her attention had always wandered as she longed to be outside, to be active.     

“It is,” Obi-Wan agreed, “but the more salient point is that if the Empire has developed a weapon to destroy cities from orbit, they must have harnessed the power of kyber crystals.”

For the first time, Leia felt slightly foolish - she must have known about kyber crystals, somewhere in the depths of her mind, in one of those lessons where she been staring out the window.  Obi-Wan’s point was sound, perhaps he wasn’t the doddering old man she’d taken him for.

“But kyber is a Jedi’s instrument,” Leia said, trying to paper over her earlier ignorance.  

“One that can be corrupted, bent to the will of the dark side.” Obi-Wan was grim.  “As even the strongest hearts can.”

They travelled in silence for a while, Obi-Wan lost in his thoughts and Leia already making plans.  Once they had picked up this weapon and returned to the ship she would need to contact her father, to make sure it was safe for their return - if not she would take the plans to the rebel base on Yavin and hope her absence would draw suspicion away from her home planet.  

“Tatooine is a binary system,” Obi-Wan spoke up eventually.  In the distance the two suns were beginning their afternoon descent, orange and gold and fierce in the broad sky.  “The strongest stars have hearts of kyber, but there is something more rare, even more precious, and that is twin stars.  The galaxy was not made to see such power, such a great convergence of the Force - wonderful and terrible, beyond the understanding of either Jedi or Sith.”

Leia gave herself a few moments to try and find his meaning, not wishing to underestimate his words again.  She prized her natural intelligence - despite her lack of concentration in lessons she had always aced her exams - but she couldn’t comprehend his words, at least as they related to their situation.  Did he have a secret cache of kyber crystals, was that the weapon they were retrieving?

“But have no fear, Leia.”  Obi-Wan smiled at her confusion.  “All will be revealed in the fullness of time.”

* * *

They reached their destination by sunset, a small homestead in a sea of moisture vaporators - or at least that was what Obi-Wan called them.  Having spent most of her life either on mountainous Alderaan, wealthy Coruscant, or well-equipped rebel bases, Leia had never needed to worry about something as simple as water, since it was always in abundance.  It was difficult to fathom that even with the surrounds littered by machinery, there would not be enough water farmed in an entire year to sustain Aldera Palace for a single day. The people who lived in the settlement must be very poor indeed.  

As Leia brought the speeder to a stop she saw one of it occupants standing on a ridge, looking out at setting suns - one red, one white - against a sky of purple fading into dark blue.  He turned around; a young man perhaps her own age, blonde and fair, wearing simple clothes of white homespun.

“Hello Ben,” the boy said as they got out of the speeder.  “What brings you out here so late?” He turned to Leia, a broad smile alighting his face - it was quite the effect, almost like a third sun to match the two behind him.  “Hi.”

“Hello.”  Leia looked to Obi-wan for an explanation - he’d hidden his weapon _here_ , on a farm?  But the old man seemed to have forgotten her, approaching the boy and clasping his hand in a way that was surprising.  With her he had been formal and while also slightly vexatious, it was distantly so. In truth, she had expected more from the man her father had spoke of so fondly, and yet he was a Jedi so she was able to dismiss that feeling easily enough.  But with the boy - he looked at him with true affection, in a way that almost seemed unbecoming from a man whose religion eschewed attachment.

“Luke,” Obi-Wan patted his back fondly.  “It’s good to see you my boy.”

The boy - Luke - looked at her again, their gaze drawn together like magnets.  There was something about him Leia couldn’t quite place, and she couldn’t stop staring at him although she had no idea why.  

“We’re sorry to disturb you so late,” she said, falling back into her formal accent.  “But the situation is quite urgent - we’re here for the weapon.”

Luke blinked.  Then his gaze swept over her, taking in her Core hairstyle, pale skin which had never seen too much sun, and white gown thoroughly unsuitable for the climate, its hem stained with red dust.  How she could almost feel his thoughts and reaction - a mixture of suspicion and awe - she couldn’t explain.

“There are no weapons here,” he said mildly.  “At least none that you’d find useful.”

“Luke, she’s with the Rebellion,” Obi-Wan told him softly.  “She needs our help.”

Immediately Luke’s guarded expression fell away, his shoulders straightening and head perking up at Obi-Wan’s words.  “Really?” He looked at Leia again. “But what help could I give you?”

“General Kenobi.” Leia was impatient, no matter how intriguing Luke was he clearly had no idea about anything.  “You asked to bring something with you, assuring me that it was important enough to risk delaying our journey. Can you please explain what we are doing here.”

But Obi-wan’s attention was all for the boy, that amused, half-mocking smile replaced by one of pride and devotion.  And then she realised - they’d come for Luke.

“ _He’s_ the weapon?” she asked Obi-Wan, incredulous.  “Or was that a lie?”

Finally, his attention returned to her, along with that droll look.  “I am a Jedi, Princess. I would never lie to you.”

That, she knew, was a lie.  Inwardly, she was seething, she had risked the lives of her crew and the chances of the Rebellion to come get the old man, and he was wasting her time was platitudes?  She looked at Luke again, who was thoroughly bewildered, clearly he had no idea who Kenobi was, he’d called him “Ben.” Whatever scheme the Jedi had planned for the boy, he wasn’t privy to it.  

Or...perhaps the boy was Obi-Wan’s son, was that the reason he looked at him so longingly?  It did not square with the stories her father had told her, that Kenobi was the very epitome of the Jedi, devoted to the code which bound their order and governed his every action.  But there had also been rumours about Kenobi and the queen of Mandalore - if they’d had a child before her untimely death and the boy had been hidden with a peasant family, it explained why he would have fled here after the war, to watch over his son from afar.  

“I see your mind is already pursuing fanciful explanations,” Kenobi said, as if he had sensed her suspicions.  “I should explain-”

But there was noise from within the settlement.  “Luke!” a gruff voice called, and the boy hastened over to the steps which lead down into the domed structure.  

“Out here Uncle Owen,” he called back.  “We, uh, have visitors.”

There was the scuffling of shoes against stone, and a man appeared with a sour look on his weathered face.  “Who is crazy enough to be out after dark?” he grumbled as he climbed the steps. Leia didn’t think his expression could become more unwelcoming, but then he saw them - or rather, he saw Kenobi and the reaction was visceral.  

“I thought I told you never to come ‘round here,” he spat, placing a hand on Luke’s shoulder as if to claim him - or perhaps protect him.  “Bringing trouble with you no doubt,” he added, glancing at Leia.

Although his fear was not unfounded, Leia bristled.  “Thank you for that warm welcome, sir,” she said, forcing each word out with derision.  But Owen was not shamed by her words, barely giving her another glance as all his ire was directed at Obi-Wan, glaring at the Jedi as if he could make him leave by will alone.  

“Uncle Owen, they need our help,” Luke tried to placate him.  “At least listen to what they have to say.”

“I know what he wants.” Owen stepped forward, placing himself bodily between Luke and Obi-Wan.  “And I won’t let it happen, I won’t let him take you.”

“Owen?” A pleasant female voice called from within.  “Luke?” When the woman appeared, it took her less than three seconds to survey the scene and then hurry to Luke’s side and place a hand on his arm.  It was a gentler gesture than Owen’s, but no less possessive.

“I told you, Beru,” Owen said gruffly.  “Didn’t I tell you? I knew this day would come.”

“Is it true?” Beru asked Obi-Wan, tears already in her eyes.  

“I came to ask Luke to join us,” he replied.  “But the choice is his.”

“To join the Rebellion?” Luke began to smile.  “But why would you want me?”

“Yes, Obi-Wan,” Leia spoke up, certain now that her earlier assumption was correct.  “Perhaps you can enlighten us all.”

“Because of who you are, Luke.” Obi-Wan stepped forward, craning his head to address the boy behind the solid frame of his uncle.  “You have a power you cannot yet conceive - you are a skilled pilot but that is a mere taste of what you can do. You are strong in the Force, Luke, you could be a Jedi. And I know those words mean nothing to you, but there is a legacy waiting for you, if you have the courage to claim it.  I admit it is not an easy one; the path would be difficult and the challenges great, but I have watched since you were a small boy and I know you have the strength to succeed where others have failed.”

Luke was transfixed and Leia didn’t blame him - it was an impressive speech, and she had heard many aimed at young recruits. She’d even given a few herself.  Beru, quite rightly, looked worried, clutching Luke’s arm tighter. Owen turned to look at Luke himself, and seeing the fire in his eyes whipped back around.

“No!” he exclaimed, pointing a finger at Obi-Wan.  “I won’t let you do this, Kenobi. I said when you brought him here I would keep him safe, and that’s what I will do.”

“He’s not a boy anymore Owen,” Beru spoke up, although she did not relinquish her hold on Luke.  “If he wants to leave we cannot stop him.”

“But I won’t let them get him with their lies.” Owen was still glaring at Obi-Wan.  “That’s how they got his father, filled his head with that nonsense, and it ended up killing him.”

“His father?” Leia was confused.  “But I thought...”

For once Obi-Wan was not smiling - in fact he looked rather guilty, and it couldn’t be more clear that no one was listening to her.  It was not something Leia was used to, and she lapsed into silence.

“I don’t understand.” Luke shook his head and addressed Owen.  “You said my father was a navigator on a spice freighter.”

“Luke.” Beru rubbed his arm gently.  “Your father was Anakin Skywalker.”

The name clearly meant nothing to Luke, but it sent a jolt through Leia and she didn’t know why she hadn’t seen it sooner.  Obi-Wan had mentioned him in the speeder deliberately, and now she recalled that Tatooine was Anakin’s home planet. Yes, as she looked at Luke again she could see the resemblance to the hero she’d watched in the Rebellion’s secret holonet archives.  She suddenly felt ashamed for accusing Kenobi is cowardice, when his true purpose was to watch over the son of his fallen comrade.

“None of it would have happened if he’d just stayed here,” Owen said, his gruff voice tinged with sorrow as he turned to Luke.  “I told him to stay - because we were family, even if it wasn’t by blood. But he had to go and save him,” he jerked a thumb in Obi-Wan’s direction. “And then the war started, and that was the beginning of the end.  But they would have been safe here, if they’d only stayed, they both would have lived.”

“Both?” Luke’s forehead creased.

“I believe he is referring to your mother,” Obi-Wan said gently, and Luke glanced back and forth between them, looking equally betrayed.

“Luke.”  Owen took Luke by the shoulders, forcing him to meet his eyes and blocking his view of Obi-Wan.  “There’s nothing out there but torment and death, and you’ll find the adventure that you crave will soon turn into a nightmare.”  He cupped Luke’s cheek with one shaking hand, his voice ragged. “If I was hard on you it was only because I feared the day that we could lose you to that hopeless cause.”

He swallowed heavily, with the unease of a man not used to showing his emotions.  “But you could stay, you could have a life here with us - your family. And we’ll keep you safe, like we always have.”

For a moment Luke seemed moved, but then he pulled away, his gaze travelling between Owen and Obi-Wan, his fair face blighted with distrust. “How can I believe anything you tell me?  You’ve both done nothing but lie my entire life.”

Owen glared at Obi-wan as if it was all his fault, and Leia could see that they would argue back and forth, resolution between the two men impossible when resentment had festered so long. She didn’t have time for such petty matters, she had a job to do; retrieve Obi-Wan, and if he wouldn’t leave without his charge, then they must bring him along too.

“Luke.” Leia stepped forward, and he turned to her as if startled she would address him by name.  “Your Uncle is wrong, there is nowhere in this galaxy safe from the Empire, not even out here in the Territories. They have built a weapon capable of destroying a planet, they will subjugate the Hutt Empire and lay claim to their dominion, this world will fall under Imperial rule like every other. There can be no peace so long as the Emperor reigns.”

“I don’t know if you have this power as Obi-Wan claims, but I’ve heard stories of your father, he was a great hero.  You could honour his sacrifice.” She looked directly into Luke’s eyes and felt that jolt again, like a familiarity. Suddenly she wasn’t concerned with winning him over simply to complete her mission, nor was it simply recognising a good recruit - it was something deeper, more instinctual.  Something she couldn’t quite explain, but was ready to follow.

“I can see that at heart you are a rebel, like me.” She smiled at him, the first time she had since the data tapes had been placed into her hand.  “We could fight the Empire together.”

Luke held her gaze for several more moments and she thought she had him convinced, but then she felt the doubts creep up on him.  

“To fight for the Rebellion - to get away from here and make a difference...” Luke ducked his head and scuffed his toe against the sand. “But Uncle Owen is right - I have responsibilities here too.”

Owen let out a relieved sigh, but Beru stepped forward and shook her head.  “Luke, this is everything you ever wanted.”

Luke looked up at her, determined.  “I can’t just abandon you, Aunt Beru.”

Leia admired his loyalty - but perhaps he didn’t realise the gravity of the situation, he didn’t truly know how desperate their situation was, how much they needed help.  She almost began to argue further, but Obi-Wan held up a hand and she remained silent.

Beru looked on the verge of tears, her eyes bright.  “Luke, I have loved you since the moment you were placed into my arms.” She reached up to gently cup his face. “Of course I want you with me always, to be without you will break my heart, but I know you were meant for more than this life.  “You are so special Luke, and if my great sacrifice is to let you go for the good of the galaxy, then that is what I must do.”

She embraced him, and he stooped down so she could put her arms around his neck and hold him tight.  Leia felt a pang for her own mother back on Alderaan, in whose arms everything could be made right again, when she needn’t be the steely senator or gracious princess, but merely herself.  

When Beru pulled away tears were streaming down her cheeks, and she wiped them away with her palms.  “I only knew your mother a day,” she said, unburdening herself in a way she’d likely wanted to for years.  “But I saw that she was kind and good - I see her in you, Luke, she would be so proud of who you’ve become.  I...I hope I have done right by her.”

“Of course you have,” Owen said - he’d been watching from a distance, knowing that he’d lost the fight.  He put an arm around his wife and nodded to Luke. “I still think you would have made a good farmer - you’re diligent, Luke, you’re a survivor.  Wherever you’re going, don’t forget that...don’t forget us.”

Luke sniffed and shook his head.  “I could never,” he said, voice thick, and then all three were embracing again.  

Leia let out a sigh of relief, and Obi-Wan stepped closer to her.

“I don’t want you to feel forgotten,” Obi-Wan said softly, as the others were saying their goodbyes.  “Luke is important, but you should know everything I said to him is true for you as well. Like the kyber hearts of twin stars, strong in and of themselves, but unstoppable together.”

She wanted to ask what he meant, but Obi-Wan approached the others as they embraced and said words of farewell.  He explained that they must leave immediately, and Leia shook off her unease and joined the group, anxious that they should depart.

“I’m ready,” Luke said with a determined nod.  Behind him Beru was still crying but the pride on her face was unmistakable; Owen hid it better, but there was a mixture of sorrow and resignation on his weathered face.  

“Excellent,” Obi-Wan clapped his hands together.  “But where are my manners, I should made the proper introductions,” He drew Luke closer and Leia held out her hand.  He grasped it firmly, and here was that familiarity again, stronger this time, as if they were being tethered together by the soul as soon as their skin had touched.  She knew he felt it too, he gave a small start, his face alight with curiosity and joy as that wide smile returned, the one that reminded her of the sun.

“Leia Organa, meet Luke Skywalker.”  Obi-Wan said as they shook hands. “He’s your brother.”

 


	2. Luke Skywalker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, thank you to everyone who has left kudos and lovely, lovely reviews, the response to this fic was unexpected and so heartening. While I'd intended this to be a one shot, I realised I couldn't leave things there, and while writing the second chapter I knew there was something else missing to really make it complete- or rather someone. Star Wars and I have basically broken up (at least with the current canon) so writing this has been very hard, but also rewarding, because dammit our Skytwins deserve some happiness, even if it's only in AU form.

**Part II**

Luke had never seen any surface as clean as the sleek white walls of Leia’s spaceship.  His Aunt Beru has always been fastidious, spending hours sweeping out the dirt floors and whitewashing the walls of their home, but then the next sandstorm would roll in to stain them all red again, and a collection of grainy sand would accumulate on every available surface.  But she was undeterred by the futility of her endeavours, and would begin the clean again without comment or complaint.

As a boy he’d toddled after her trying to help, collecting the sand in a small bucket he would empty outside and then return to fill up again.  As he’d grown, however, it became apparent that his help was better employed on Owen’s behalf; checking the vaporators, tinkering with their mechanics to improve performance, walking the kilometres between them so his uncle, with his creaky legs and bad shoulder, wouldn’t have to.

But despite his aunt’s diligence in keeping their small home immaculate, it couldn’t compare to the _Tantive IV_.  The name had almost been obscured on the hull by a blight of red dust, but Leia had informed him of her name as they’d come aboard, and also that it served as her consular ship when she was on business either on behalf of the Royal House of Organa or as Senator for Alderaan.  Her crisp Core accent seemed to come and go, but had been particularly prominent in that moment.

The ship was impressive, shiny white interiors and crew bustling about in green and grey uniforms.  Luke had been waiting his entire life to leave Tatooine, but now that he was being whisked through hyperspace it didn’t feel anything like he had expected it would.  

Leia had left them in a small room just off the main corridor, occupied only by a conference table with a holodeck, a few chairs, and now Luke and Ben Kenobi.  Or Obi-Wan, as Leia had called him.

“What’s your real name?” Luke asked, the first words he’d spoken to him since they’d boarded the ship.  Ben had been doing all the talking, telling him about the Force and the Jedi, and while under ordinary circumstances Luke would have been riveted, his thoughts had wandered to what he’d left behind, what had been kept from him, and most of all, exactly what it all meant.

“My name is Obi-Wan,” he said, stroking the side of his beard.  “But you can still call me Ben - it has been my name your entire life.”

Luke stared at the old man, a face he was acquainted with but not accustomed to.  He’d always seemed to be an eccentric who crossed Luke’s path from time to time, nothing betraying his true role and purpose.  It was somewhat humbling, to know that Ben had been watching over Luke his entire life, kept on the periphery by Uncle Owen perhaps, but still there, eeking out a harsh existence for the sole reason of protecting him from harm, and waiting for the day he could tell him everything.  His earlier anger at being lied to had cooled, and now Luke felt more favourably towards Ben - forgiveness had always come easy to him.

“It feels strange to be sitting here once again.” Ben looked around the room, seemingly lost in his memories.  “This was the very room in which it was decided to split you and your sister up. Master Yoda, Bail Organa, and I.”

“Who is Yoda?” Luke asked - Bail Organa he’d discovered was Leia’s adoptive father, Prince Consort of Alderaan and husband to the Queen, but the other name was unfamiliar.  

“A Jedi Master like myself,” Ben told him.  “The very oldest and wisest of our Order - and was so even when our fraternity was ten thousand strong.  As far as I know, he and I are now the last.”

Though unspoken, his meaning was clear - that he hoped he and this Yoda would not remain so, but Luke and Leia would learn from both of them and become Jedi.  But Luke’s mind was still caught on the past, on what had been taken from him rather than what Ben was offering.

“Did Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru know?” Luke looked out into the empty corridor where Leia had disappeared.  “That I had a sister?”

“No.” Ben’s voice was soft.  “I’ve kept many secrets, Luke, and I have many more.  Some I can’t tell you, even now.”

“Then how can I trust you?” Luke asked. He wanted to, desperately, Ben was the only thing he had of home.

“If everyone was always honest, there would be no need to trust anyone.” Ben gave him a cryptic half-smile. “Secrets are like water; if too much is released too quickly, you’re likely to drown.”

Luke had never seen enough water to drown in, but he understood the metaphor. “But I don’t know you,” he protested. “Not really, how can I know whether to trust you or not?”

“I know _you_ ,” Ben said simply. “I held you in my arms the moment you were born, and I have watched over you your entire life. I know that when you’re flying you don’t think, you just let yourself go, trusting in your instincts. That is the Force flowing through you, and you can listen to what it has to say.  I’m not asking you to trust me - only to trust yourself.”

Luke closed his eyes without really knowing why. Ever since he as a boy, he’d felt there had been something inside him, simmering away, waiting to be released. He’d gotten a glimpse of it sometimes, when he was flying his skyhopper through Beggar’s Canyon, a belief in himself that was rarely present at any other time. He had no fear or injury or death, but complete faith in his own ability no matter how fast he flew, or how many obstacles were in his way. It was almost if he could see things before they happened, his reactions instantaneous because he had anticipated the next move to make.  Was that the Force as Ben had told him, giving him strength and foresight?

He reached for that certainty, that gut instinct, that connection to something greater.  It was there, inside him, and yet all around him at the same time. It was like drawing away a curtain to fully see the light he’d only glimpsed before. It was beautiful and terrifying, and Luke let the curtain fall back, not ready for the full force of the universe being offered to him.

His eyes snapped open, and Ben was smiling. Had he sensed what Luke had felt?  

Before he could ask there was a loud succession of beeps from the hallway, and an astromech rolled in followed by a gold plated protocol droid. The beeps were emanating from the smaller of the two, the larger waving his metal arms as he shuffled along behind.

“I’ve told you Artoo, we’re not meant to be here,” the protocol droid said in the strangest accent Luke had ever heard. “I don’t care what you picked up on your sensors...oh, hello.” The droid became aware of them, his head moving back and forth between Luke and Obi-Wan. “Pardon the intrusion, good sirs, my counterpart here is having some kind of malfunction.”

The astromech rolled over to Ben, letting out a short series of chirps and whistles. The old man smiled in response, and patted the droid’s blue and white domed head.

“Hello, my little friend,” he said. “You remember old Obi-Wan?”

Luke’s knowledge of droid binary was limited, but it seemed like Artoo answered in the affirmative, and then swiveled his head to look at the protocol droid before letting out a dour sound.

“Ah, memory wipe, I am not surprised.” Obi-wan looked at the protocol droid with sympathy. “Perhaps you could introduce yourself then.”

“Me sir?”  The droid stepped forward. “Of course, I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations, and this is my counterpart, R2-D2.”

“Obi-Wan Kenobi,” he introduced himself.  “Pleased to meet you Threepio.”

“Luke Skywalker,” Luke nodded and smiled at the droids.  Threepio gave a strange sort of bow which was perhaps customary, being in the service of a Princess, but Artoo let out an inquisitive beep, turning his dome in Luke’s direction.  The droid slowly rolled over to him, and got so close he was almost touching Luke’s knees.

“Hello.” Luke looked directly into his eyestalk.  Artoo let out what seemed like a mournful sound, and instinctively Luke put his hand on the droid’s dome - the little thing seemed in need of comfort.  

“These droids belonged to your parents, Luke,” Ben explained.  “In fact Artoo here was your father’s near constant companion.”

Luke stared at the astromech and he felt a familiarity - something logic told him was impossible, since Artoo was not organic.  And yet, it didn’t necessarily follow that he was therefore not a living thing, when he had memory and personality, when Luke had felt a connection before Ben had even spoken.  

“I’m sorry, but that’s untrue.” Leia was standing in the doorway, arms folded and posture erect.  “These droids have been in my father’s service for as long as I can remember.”

“And where do you think he got them?” Obi-Wan gave her a disarming smile.  

“Princess Leia.” Threepio sounded anxious.  “I apologise, Artoo simply insisted on meeting the visitors, I could not stop him, I-”

“Quite alright,” Leia waved a dismissive hand as she stepped into the room.  “But perhaps you can both return to your posts.”

“Of course.” Threepio gave another little bow to each of them.  “Come on Artoo, you heard Mistress Leia.” He shuffled out of the room, Artoo following somewhat reluctantly.  He paused at the doorway, his dome spinning back and let out what sounded like a mechanical sigh. Luke promised himself that he would go find the droids later - and brush up on his binary.  

Leia watched the droids leave, and then pressed a button on the console table which made the door slide closed.  Clearly, she didn’t want anyone overhearing them.

“I’ve spoken to my father,” she addressed Ben.  “He confirmed your claims.” Her voice was cold and her face impassive, but Luke could feel her emotions swirling under her stony facade - she didn’t know how to deal with the knowledge that her parents had kept the truth from her so long, and so internalised that confusion and externalised the only emotion that made sense - her anger.  

“I’m sure he’s not best pleased with me,” Ben said, but he remained smiling.

“You can find out for yourself,” Leia said shortly.  “He’s on the comm, I have cleared a private channel.”

Ben rose to his feet slowly, gathering his robes around himself.  “Well I don’t want to keep him waiting, and you two should...talk.”

Leia looked away as Ben left the room, clearly disinclined to follow his suggestion.  Luke rose to his feet - Aunt Beru had always said it was rude to sit while someone else remained standing, but he found he wasn’t quite sure what to do with his hands.  He tried hooking his thumbs through his belt but didn’t want to look any more like a rim-scarper than he already did, hands on his hips or folded was too confrontational, so he just let them hang at his sides awkwardly.  

In any event Leia wasn’t paying attention.  “We’ve charted a course to Alderaan,” she said but avoided looking at him.  “It doesn’t seem like they were able to identify my ship, and the Emperor has scattered his forces searching for the Rebel Base.  They won’t find it though.” That made her smile, and Luke thought not for the first time that she was very beautiful. Ben had told him that he resembled his father - did Leia look like their mother?

“I can’t wait to see where you grew up,” Luke said, grasping to connect with her.  “To learn everything about you - and our parents.”

“ _My_ parents are Bail and Breha Organa of Alderaan.”  Leia folded her hands on front of her - she at least didn’t seem to second guess how she should stand.  “And I am an only child. I’m sorry Luke, but we share...genetic material and nothing else.”

“Then why can I feel your thoughts?” Luke said, unoffended by her words.  “How do I know that you’ve always felt there was something missing, something you were searching for?”

Finally she looked at him, and he once again felt that charge as their eyes met.  Her expression softened, and her hard edges seemed to melt away. He saw clearly her bravado masking the kindness beneath, felt her fractured soul that seemed to fit perfectly with his own, each of their strengths to complement the others weaknesses.    

“When I was small,” she said softly, “I had an imaginary friend - a boy who lived in the sun.  Whenever I felt sad I would talk to him, and feel warm again.”

“I remember,” Luke breathed.  “I thought those were dreams - about the girl at the heart of the mountain, who was so strong she could dance on crystal.”

A broad smile broke out of her face that seemed to light up the whole room. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever seen ice,” she said as she took a seat opposite him. “Let alone someone skate on it.”

Luke sat down gratefully.  “This ship is the coldest place I’ve ever been.”

“Are you alright?” Leia asked, slipping into concern.  “I can arrange for a blanket, or some warmer clothes…”

“I’m fine,” Luke assured her - he didn’t want any excuse for her to leave again so soon.  But an awkward silence fell as neither seemed to know how to begin. He waited for Leia - surely with all of her diplomatic training she would know what to say, but perhaps the matter was too personal to default again to Princess mode.   

“I think maybe it’s easier for me,” Luke said finally, if only to fill the silence.  “Even though Owen and Beru were mother and father to me, I called them Aunt and Uncle, I kept my last name, our grandmother is buried at our homestead.  I always felt like a Skywalker, even if they kept from me who my father truly was. I knew in my heart that I was different.”

Leia squared her shoulders and lifted her chin.  “I always knew I was adopted, my parents never lied to me.”

“They didn’t tell you the truth either,” Luke pointed out.  “Ben told me, he sat right where we are now with your father and another Jedi, and they agreed to separate us.”

That information seemed to hurt, and Leia looked away. Evidently she hadn’t spoken with Bail at any length, or perhaps she hadn’t asked, wanting to remain in ignorance for a little while longer.

“My father would tell me stories about the Jedi.” Leia sounded wistful.  “About how brave and wise they were, how they fought for the weak and downtrodden, how they tried to keep the peace in a galaxy intent on war.  General Kenobi, he said, was the very best, a true Jedi.”

The corner of her mouth twisted as her expression hardened.  “But if that’s true, what does that say about the rest of them?”

“What do you mean?”

She turned back to him, her dark eyes unforgiving.  “How can the Jedi be as noble and good as my father told me, when they would separate children who had just lost their parents, and each other were all the family they had left?”

It was a good point, and despite his reluctance to trust Ben earlier he had never questioned his good intent.  But Leia was politically experienced and personally shrewd, of course she would find the very heart of the matter.  But more heartening to Luke was that despite her earlier protestations that they shared nothing but blood, she must feel something of his loss, to be angry over their separation.

“I...believe Ben is a good man,” he spoke up eventually.  “He didn’t raise me, but looking back I know he was always protecting me.  When I was lost in the desert, or attacked by kryat dragons or Tusken Raiders - even once when I crashed by Skyhooper, Ben always seemed to appear to help.”

That earned a smile from Leia.  “You seem to find trouble easily, Luke.”

“That’s what my Uncle used to say,” he told her.  “But it didn’t make him smile like that.”

“I imagine not.”  Leia regarded him for a few moments, and he felt studied, analysed.  “But perhaps he was right to worry, perhaps he knew that Obi-Wan’s kindness masked a deeper ambition -  keeping you safe knowing that one day he would come and claim you for the Jedi.”

“That’s unfair.” Luke immediately rose to Ben’s defence, but kept his voice soft.  “He could have raised me himself of that’s what he wanted, I could have grown up not knowing anything but what he taught me.  But I think…I think he wanted me to have a normal childhood.”

“If one considers being chased by dragons normal.” Leia’s smile returned, lighting up her face in a way that was truly striking.  

“No more than being a princess I suppose,” Luke grinned, and it was as if all the unease fell away.

“Oh, there are plenty of dragons in the Senate,” Leia laughed.  “Just of a different kind.”

They chuckled together for a few moments, and it all seemed so easy, so right, as if time and distance had never separated them at all. Perhaps deep down it hadn’t.

“So,” Luke said, emboldened. “Can I be your brother?”

That sobered her, the mask falling once again. “I suppose I must accept that you are whether I like it or not.”  Leia leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. “But it doesn’t necessarily follow that we must be close.”

“I’d make a great brother.” Luke was undeterred.  “I mean, I don’t have any experience but I know I would. Will.”

“What makes you so sure?” Her smile was small, but indulgent.

“Instinct.” He leaned forward, palms on the table between them. “And I think you feel it too, but you’re afraid of what it means.”

“You’ve known me five minutes,” Leia narrowed her eyes, but her voice was light.  “And you presume to tell me what I feel?”

Luke shrugged.  “Have a go at me then.”  

She hesitated at first, reluctant to engage and concede his point merely by doing so.  But neither was she willing to back down for a challenge, and Luke could sense the war inside of her - since touching the Force she was lain as bare to him as if he had spent every day of his life by her side.  

“I think you’re a lonely little boy,” Leia said eventually, lifting her chin slightly so to look down on him.  “So desperate for a family, a purpose, you’re grasping onto any connection you can find.”

“Maybe you’re right.”  Luke conceded. “We both grew up alone, but while I grew to resent that loneliness, you learned to depend on it.”

For the first time Leia seemed ruffled, staring at him for a few moments before blinking twice and looking away.  The silence hung heavily, and lingered until the door slid open and Obi-Wan re-appeared. If his conversation with Leia’s father had taxed him he didn’t show it, that genial smile a seemingly permanent fixture on his face.

“Well I see you’ve been getting along,” he said, and Leia glared at him in response.  “Bail said that he wanted to explain himself - to both of you. He, perhaps, feels more guilt than I about the situation, but then I knew more readily the danger that faced you both - that faces us all, should you remain together.”

“What danger?” Luke asked, shifting forward in his seat again.   

Obi-Wan clasped his hands in front of him, letting the moment settle before he spoke.  “Anakin Skywalker was the strongest in the Force any of us had ever known - perhaps more powerful than any Jedi in recorded history.  As his children, we knew that your potential was just as great, and the moment you both were born I could sense that power within you.”

He looked at each of them in turn.  “Hiding you to keep you safe was our first priority, but it was also clear that you could not remain together.”

“Why?” Leia asked.  “What difference would it make?”

“As twins, you share a connection stronger than blood alone.” Obi-Wan’s smile had faded, and he held out his hands palms upwards.  “In many ways, a single lifeforce split into two, powerful as individuals, but made whole again?” He brought his hands together and laced his fingers.  “Stronger than anything we can conceive.”

“Like twin stars,” Leia said softly.  “With hearts of kyber.”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan nodded.  “But that kind of strength is unpredictable, and impossible to hide.  Kept apart we had a chance that the Emperor would not sense you, together you would have shone so brightly in the Force nothing could have concealed you from him.”

“If that’s true won’t he sense us now?” Leia asked.  “Didn’t you just defer the danger?”

“You are adults now,” Obi-Wan said simply.  “You can protect yourselves, make your own choices.”

“But how do we protect others?” Leia pressed.  “Aren’t we risking Alderaan by returning there?”

“You are still not fully reconciled to one another.”  Obi-Wan sat next to Leia and put a hand over hers. “Your connection will take time to deepen, and as it does you will grow more powerful.  I’m afraid you cannot remain on Alderaan long, nor return to the Senate.”

“What if we seperate again?” Luke asked, his voice wavering only slightly.  As much as he wanted to be with Leia, he couldn’t force her to give up the family she already had.  “I can still fight for the Rebellion, send me off on a mission somewhere, train me as a Jedi, whatever you need me to do.”  He looked at Leia, trying to convey his sincerity. “We don’t have to stay together.”

“Now is not the time for such decisions,” Obi-Wan said, and as if on cue an alarm sounded throughout the ship.  “We have arrived.”

* * *

Breha Organa did not feel much like the Queen of Alderaan as she waited on the landing platform, nervously smoothing out a wrinkle in her skirt.  Bail was beside her, as he always was, better at hiding his nerves, although she could still see them in the tightness of his shoulders and the slight downward quirk of his lips.  

Queens were not used to waiting, things happened when she arrived and not a moment later - except when it came to her daughter.  With Leia, Breha felt as if she was in a constant state of waiting; for a comm call, for her to return home, and worst of all, the inbetween when she feared instead she was waiting for news of Leia’s discovery as a Rebel agent, or her capture and death.  

But now it wasn’t just her daughter she was waiting for; but for a moment she’d spent nineteen years wondering about, in fear that the day may never arrive.    

When she’d learnt that Leia has been born a twin Breha had railed against her husband for not bringing him too. She would have been proud to take carriage of both Padmé’s children, to raise them together as her own regardless of the danger. Eventually she had accepted Bail’s explanation of why they kept them apart, but for a long time had nursed a bold fantasy of taking off to Tatooine in the middle of the night, to claim the boy and bring him home with her.  

As the years passed even that dream faded, but still her thoughts had often turned to Luke, wondering if he was alright, hoping that his new mother was giving him all the love Breha would have. When she would see Leia struggle with the gifts she did not understand, when the loneliness of being the sole Organa heir drive her inwards, when she saw her daughter reaching out desperately for someone she didn’t even recognise, it near broke her heart.

The _Tantive_ broke through the crowds and Breha held her breath, as always a feeling of relief to see her daughter safely home.  Bail’s warm hand touched her shoulder, and the tension in his posture visibly eased. He’d been worried this time; he’d hoped to keep her safe from the battle at Scarif by sending her to Kenobi, and yet that mission had turned into the most dangerous of all.  It was pure luck that she had evaded the Imperial forces unidentified, that she had brought the Rebellion’s hard-wron cargo home.

But that was not the cargo Breha was interested in, shielding her eyes as the ship landed, the wind from the updraft pressing her skirts back against her legs.  The descent of the ramp seemed to take forever, but finally she saw her daughter stride down - the hem of her white dress stained a dusty red and one of her hair buns coming loose, but poised and controlled as ever.  An old man was next, and Breha noted that the years in the desert had not been kind of Obi-Wan Kenobi. His hair pure white, his wrinkles deep, his homespun robes careworn, and yet his step was light, and his smile as self-satisfied as ever.  Then finally, trailing a few steps behind was a boy in white, with sandy blond hair and an overawed expression as he looked around at the mountains that surrounded them.

“Oh Bail, it’s him,” she exhaled, grasping her husband’s arm.

He looked nothing like Leia; fair where she was dark, face angular where hers was round, skin as sun-kissed as hers was pale, and her quick strides across the landing pad were full of purpose, while he ambled along behind, taking in his surrounding with wonder and awe.  As they drew closer, the differences were more apparent, but so did the signs of their common parentage - Luke had the cleft chin that marked him as the son of Anakin Skywalker, but when he smiled at a passing flock of snowbirds it reminded her so much of Padmé it took her breath away again.  

But all such thoughts were pushed from her mind as Leia reached her, and Breha closed the space remaining between them to enfold her daughter tightly in her arms.    

“Thank the Mother you’re safe,” she said fiercely, unwilling to let Leia go until she felt Bail gently touch her shoulder, and she released her into her father’s arms.

“We did it, Father,” said as she pulled away, a wild, proud look in her dark eyes. “We have the plans.”  She withdrew the disc from the pocket of her gown and presented it to Bail. “We can stop them.”

“I hope so.”  He took the disc from Leia, and his gaze drifted to Obi-Wan and Luke, the latter shifting nervously from one foot to the other. “But first let’s see what else you brought home with you.”

Obi-wan laughed and stepped forward to greet them. “You speak as if we were strays she found by the side of the road.”

“Aren’t you?” Bail’s voice was warm, and he gave a sly wink to Leia before embracing Obi-Wan. “It’s good to see you, old friend.”

“Even better to see you, Bail.”  Obi-Wan patted his arm fondly. “You’ve barely aged a day since I saw you last - and here I am, with sand in my very pores.”  He touched his cheek, running his fingers over his white beard. “I’m surprised you even recognise me.”

It was true, in twenty years Obi-Wan seemed to have aged a lifetime, and an uncharacteristic, malicious thought sidled through Breha’s mind - that perhaps the years under the harsh suns had been his penance, that the age that had seemed into his face and bones the price he had paid for taking Luke so far away.  But of course she did not give voice to such malcontent.

She said instead: “Recognisable or not, you are always welcome on Alderaan, General Kenobi.”

Obi-Wan took her proffered hand and bowed low over it.  “Thank you, your Majesty.” He straightened and beckoned his charge forward.  “I beg your leave to present Luke Skywalker.”

 _So he kept his name_ , Breha mused.  A gift for safety’s sake they had not been able to bestow on Leia, and she wondered at the other choices his family had made regarding his upbringing.  

“Luke,” Obi-Wan put a hand on his back, urging him through his obvious nerves.  “These are Leia’s parents, Breha and Bail Organa.” He left off the honorifics for which Breha was glad, the poor boy didn’t need to be intimidated further.   

“Your Majesty.” Luke mimicked Obi-Wan, although his bow over her hand was clumsy, and the words unfamiliar on his tongue.  But he wasn’t afraid to look up at meet her eyes, to hold her gaze when most would have demured and looked away. There was strength behind those boyish blue eyes, and yet Breha felt an overwhelming surge of protectiveness towards him.  Unable to hold back, she pulled Luke into her embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around him as if by doing so she could keep him safe from all the danger that lay ahead. But the moment was fleeting, she knew there was nothing she could do to keep him safe - her custodianship was over before it had even begun.  

She pulled away but kept Luke close, cupping his face in her hands.  He smiled at her, unabashed by her immediate affection, accepting it without reserve.   

“I’m so glad to meet you Luke,” she said, fresh tears welling in her eyes.  “At last.”

“Welcome to Alderaan, son.” Bail’s warm voice came from over her shoulder, and Breha relinquished her hold on Luke so he could shake her husband’s hand.  Leia was on her periphery, looking not at all pleased at the turn of events - Breha knew her daughter, she would have been keeping Luke at arms length until she could sort through her feelings, and such a display of welcome and affection from her parents would be disconcerting.  

Breha’s took Leia’s hands in hers - they were cold, the air around the landing pad had a definite chill and Leia’s senatorial gown did not provide much warmth.  

“Let’s get inside,” Breha instructed them, and squeezed Leia’s hands tightly.  “We have a lot to discuss.”

* * *

An hour later, Breha was enjoying tea in the sitting room of their family apartments when Luke emerged from the room she’d directed him to in order to freshen up.  His blond hair was wet from the shower and starting the curl at the nape of his neck, his skin scrubbed pink in contrast to the grey and blue clothes she’d lain out for him.  He moved awkwardly in them, tugging slightly at the high-necked collar, the rich woolen material heavy across his shoulders and neck.

“Feel better?” she asked, gesturing for him to take the seat across the table.  

“Much, thank you.” Luke grinned as he sat down, smoothing out his trousers to brush off the sand that wasn’t there.  “I’m sorry I took so long.”

“While you’re here you can take as long as you like.”  Breha poured him a cup of tea.

“Where are…” Luke looked around the room.

“I’m afraid Leia wouldn’t let those plans out of her sight.”  Breha took a sip of her tea, and was gratified when Luke did the same.  “She, Bail and Obi-Wan have gone to our private server to oversee the analysis.  The Empire is no doubt monitoring all communications, so we cannot send them to the Rebellion yet.”

A short silence fell, although it was not uncomfortable as Luke looked around the room, taking everything in as he sipped from his cup.  

“My Aunt Beru used to make me tea,” he said, his mouth puckering slightly. “Different to this.”

“Too sweet?”

“No, it’s nice,” he clarified, taking another sip. “Just different.”

The poor boy was likely homesick, and Breha once again felt her heart constrict with affection for him.  

“I’ve often wondered about you Luke,” she told him.  “I hope you had a happy childhood.”

“I did.” Luke’s gaze wandered around the opulent room.  “I mean, It was hard sometimes, we didn’t have much.”

Breha gently placed her cup of tea back in the saucer.  “Leia may have grown up in a place, but she’s had her share of hardship.”

“Oh no, I didn’t meant that.” Luke looked worried.  “I know, being a senator and working with the Rebellion, I..she was living the life I dreamed of. I spent most of my life trying to get away from Tatooine, but now I’m gone….”

Breha smiled, understanding.  “You miss your Aunt and Uncle.”

Luke nodded. “I think if I had the choice...they never had children, and I wouldn’t have wanted them to be alone.”

Breha was touched by his kindness. She had always thought, in those wild dreams, that she would have rescued Luke from Tatooine, but now she saw she would have been tearing him from the arms of those who loved him dearly.

Perhaps Obi-Wan had made the right choice after all, or at the very least, not the wrong one.

* * *

“That’s it.” Leia’s eyes shone with the reflection from the holoscreen.  “That’s how we destroy it.”

Bail saw it too - the flaw the Erso girl had spoken of, the information she had died for.  He looked at his own daughter, not much younger than Jyn, burning with the same rebellious passion, and ready to throw herself in just as much danger.  But he could not lay blame on anyone but himself - Leia had learnt at his knee after all, he’d filled her head with tales of valor and glory, encouraged her political ambitions, and allowed her to run the knife’s edge between rebel spy and senator.  

He’d known what it meant, sending her to Obi-Wan.  He’d always be her father, of course, she’d always love him, turn to him for comfort and guidance, but she was a woman grown, and had to forge her own path.  Alderaan would never be home again.

“Only a direct hit through the exhaust port will start the chain reaction necessary to destroy the station.”  Obi-Wan was in the shadows behind them, always happy to puncture high hopes with reality.

“It can be done.” Leia’s voice was clipped, her amity towards the Jedi obvious since the moment they’d stepped off the ship.  It didn’t surprise Bail, but nor did he wish for Obi-Wan to be blamed for decisions which had not been his alone.

“It is a difficult shot.,” Bail agreed.  “It will take a skilled pilot indeed.”

“Perhaps General Kenobi would like to volunteer.” Leia shot him a glance over her shoulder, “and prove that the Jedi are more than legend.”

Obi-Wan chuckled, disarming hostility with affability as he had always done.  “If your father told you stories exalting my flying skills I’m afraid he was stretching the truth.”    

Leia smirked as she turned back to face the holoscreen.  “Unfortunately the Death Star can’t be destroyed with a lightsaber or mind tricks.”

But Obi-Wan was unfazed, and looked at Bail with resolve.  “Luke can do it - he’s every bit the pilot his father was.”

Leia shut off the holoscreen abruptly, ejecting the disc and stowing it in her pocket.  “We have to get this to the Rebellion.”

For once Obi-Wan’s mask fell, and he looked forlornly at Leia’s turned back.  “Then I should go prepare.”

Bail reached to clasp his arm, trying to communicate silently that he was sure Leia would come around.  “My aide outside will show you to quarters.”

It look a good ten seconds after he left the room for Leia to exhale harshly.  Bail drew her into his embrace and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“What has the poor man done,” he asked, “to earn such disrespect?”

“I guess I was expecting something else,” Leia said, her voice small, her barriers gone.  “The way you spoke of him…”

“He told you things you had no wish to hear.”  Bail pulled back, his hands on her shoulders.

Leia lifted her gaze and blinked back tears.  “Why didn’t _you_ tell me?  I had a right to know, to be prepared, and not...blindsided.”

“It was my failing,” Bail agreed.  “It was my choice to keep the knowledge of your brother from you, and so it should have been my responsibility to reveal it.  But a father never wants his child to think less of him.”

“I could never,” Leia told him firmly, pressing her head against his chest and embracing him again.  “There’s no one else I want as my father.”

“I’m glad,” Bail said, his voice thick, because he knew her faith misplaced.  There was a secret he still was keeping from her, one far more devastating that Luke’s existence, one he had no idea how to broach.  “But do you want Luke as your brother?”

“He’s very strange.” Leia gave a small smile as she looked up.  “Not like me at all.”

“No, I don’t expect he is.”  Bail kept his arm around her shoulder as he led them from the room.  “Perhaps that’s for the best.”

Leia laughed, her spirits clearly buoyed as they made their was down the sleek corridors.  “He wants to join the Rebellion, seems quite eager actually.”

“I’m sure you’ll make a good team.”

She quickened her pace, and Bail’s arm fell back to his side.  “I haven’t decided what we’ll be yet.” Her head held high, Leia kept her eyes forward as he lengthened his stride to catch up with her.  

“Do you know?” she asked, “what will happen if we stay together?”

Bail cleared his throat.  “Yes.”

“And you think we should?”

“Leia.”  Bail put a hand on her arm and they stopped.  “I love you, and of course your mother and I want you with us always.  But sometimes destiny leads us places we fear to go, but that’s all the more reason to follow it.”

Leia raised her chin.  “I don’t believe in destiny.”  

“Maybe not,” Bail smiled.  “But you believe in the Force.  You have great power within you, I’ve always known that - if you can tap into it, learn to control it, then there is nothing that can stop you.”  He sighed with resignation.  “I can’t help you with that, but Obi-Wan can - and Luke too.  You can learn together, and from each other.”

“Luke…” Leia stumbled slightly over the name, as if still testing it on her tongue.  “He said if I preferred he would keep his distance, so I could stay here - so things didn’t need to change.”

Everything already had changed, but Bail knew better than to tell her that.  “That’s very kind.”

“Yes, he is,” Leia mused.  “He's strange...but kind.”

“Come on.” Bail started walking again. “Your mother’s waiting for us.”

* * *

By the time they’d finished their pot of tea Breha was firmly resolved to adopt Luke Skywalker, and it mattered not that he was already an adult, had caregivers still living, was likely to shortly leave and she had no idea when she would see him again.  She had decided to love him, and loved he would be.

He told her about his childhood adventures, his aunt and uncle, his friend Biggs who’d jumped ship to the Rebellion and hoped he’d see again.  As he spoke she felt a pang of sorrow; all she wanted was to wrap him tightly in her arms and never let him go, to give him every luxury he’d ever been denied, to tell Obi-Wan to go to Chaos because she was keeping Luke with her, the Force be damned.  

“You don’t have to go,” she said, interrupting a detailed explanation about the fuel efficiency of his Skyhooper.  Her hands were so tightly clasped in her lap her knuckles had gone white. “You don’t have to fight for the Rebellion, or be a Jedi, or do anything you don’t want to do.”

He blinked at her, mouth gaping slightly.

“You could stay here,” she pressed, leaning forward slightly in her chair.  “I know Obi-Wan makes it seem like being a Jedi is exciting, and I’m sure it would be, but it’s dangerous also.  The Emperor has spent almost twenty years exterminating the Jedi, and you’ll mark yourself as his greatest target by taking up that cause.”

“It would be too dangerous to stay,” Luke countered, eyes downcast.  “Obi-Wan said they’ll soon sense us anyway.”

“We’d protect you.”  Breha shifted to take a seat beside him, taking one of his hands in her own.  “And perhaps if you didn’t train, if the Force within you lay dormant as it has done all these years…”

Luke looked up at her, his blue eyes so open it felt like looking directly into his soul.  “My Aunt Beru used to say that if you have the ability to help someone, you have the responsibility to.  She was talking about helping someone up if they fell, or giving spare credits to beggars, but I guess the principle is the same.”

Breha smiled sadly and squeezed his hand.  “I believe that also.”

“If becoming a Jedi means I can use this power inside of me to help people, then it’s not really a choice at all.  I have to do it.”

He ducked his head slightly, blond hair falling into his eyes.  Breha reached forward with her free hand and pushed it back, knowing she had lost him before she had ever really had him at all.

“It’s not every day a Queen is schooled on duty by a farmboy,” she said, and was rewarded with a shy smile.  “Please take care of yourself out there Luke - and Leia as well.”

“I rather think I’ll be the one taking care of him.” Leia’s voice, rich with amusement, and Breha turned to see her and Bail in the doorway, evidently having heard the last part of the conversation.

“You’ve made your decision then?” she asked, and Leia nodded, stepping further into the room.  Breha shared a look with her husband - this was right, they both knew it - but that didn’t make it any easier.    

Luke rose as Leia approached him, and she raised an eyebrow as her gaze flittered over his new clothes, mouth quirking in amusement.  “Well you look a little more like a brother now,” she said dryly, and Luke tugged at his collar again and laughed.

“At least being raised separately meant we were never subjected to matching outfits,” he joked, and then cocked his head to the side.  “Although I guess when we met we were both wearing white…”

“Bite your tongue,” Leia teased. “Comparing my robes of state to your farm rags? Show some respect for your older sister.”

“Actually-” Bail began, but Breha shushed him instantly, not wanting to break through the rapport as the good natured jibes went back and forth a few times.  

“Well.” When the teasing ended Leia looked Luke up and down a few times more, then seemed to nod in approval.  

“I suppose we better find that old hermit and tell him he’s got himself two Jedi apprentices.”

 


End file.
